most treasured possession.
by tetsu69
Summary: ...a certain someone's confrontation with a ghost from his past... (my first KOF fanfic : be gentle : R&R : light cursing).


**.most treasured possession.**

by Kyterid C. Marx  [ tetst69 ]

[  you know the whole legal deal :  i'm just a poor little art student who reeli likes theses kids.  so don't sue me, and junk.  all characters are property of NeoGeo and PlayMore (formerly SNK) and should be treated with such respect, damn it!  you best be obeying...  ]

                It had been a few months since the last battle.  Since then, she had been avoiding him like the plague.  Not out of hatred, mind you; never out of hatred.  Although she loathed what he did, she could never hate him.  It was out of plain old-fashioned fear...something she refused to own up to.  

                The answering machine had been unplugged hours ago; he had already used up four tapes.  It just kept ringing...for the tenth time in a row.  He knew she was there.  It was the only other place she could be.  Five more minutes passed.  She sat on the bed in the darkened room, staring at the phone as it continued to go on to no end.  

                Since it didn't seem like he would be giving up anytime soon, she finally decided to answer him.

                It was raining outside.  Perhaps he was trying to find shelter from the incoming storm as he sounded a bit out of breath.  Clearing his throat, he regained his composure as he heard the other line pick up.  

                "...so...you _are back home.  Been looking for you forever...you alright?"_

                She sighed with a slight laugh.  "...i'm fine, all things considered...  A bit shaken, though; after being mortally wounded and seeing your co-worker slain right in front of you, things like that do tend to happen..."

                He felt her blatant sting of resentment.  "...you know that wasn't my fault."

                Her tone started to grow uneasy.  "Well...not like I really liked her anyway, but...that coulda been me, ya know?"

                He sounded exasperated.  "No.  No, it wouldn't have been you.  Even in that state, I could never hurt you; you know that."

                She laughed lightly as she rubbed her neck, "Yeah, that's why I had to be hospitalized for two months, right?"

                "...don't do this..."  He rustled his wet hair and groaned.

                "Do what?  I'm serious - I mean, how am I to know if I'll actually _survive next time you go riot?  Next time I might end up ripped in two like her instead of just getting beaten, broken, and...violated."  She paced listlessly around her apartment._

                He found himself backed up into a corner again.  There was no real answer.  "I know I can't do anything to erase any of this.  You must understand...I-It was like I was being held prisoner; forced to watch my body as I..."

                "I know...i know."  She sighed, trying her best to hold back the tears.  Tears half for herself, half for him.

                His tone grew sullen and dark.  "I didn't want that to happen.  Not like that.  That was a beast, not me.  Being trapped in that body was worst than any torture this tainted blood could ever bring.  It should be over.  He's dead.  It needs to be over, but it still happens.  I can't even cast without feeling like I'm losing a piece of my soul every time I do."   He pause for a moment and exhaled.  "But now it's even driving you away, isn't it?  That's why I lost you for so long?"  He laughed nervously, "I'm damned to die without a soul.  And now, without the one that makes up for that soul?"

                "...`Ri-sama..."  She couldn't hold them back any longer.  "...damn it..." she thought, "I did it again…i hate it when things get like this…"

                He laughed again as he slunk his body against the wet wall.  "...so it ends up I'm the puppet of a dead fuck.  Kinda suiting, I suppose.  I guess it's been like that since I was born; being slave to someone else's whims.  Fitting, very fitting, that I should be reminded that I'm damned by the only thing that ever gave me meaning outside of trying to outrun that damnation.  Fitting that that damnation should keep you away from me..."  His laughter trailed off.

                For the first time in months, she truly wished he was by her side again.  Her chocolate eyes hazed over as they welled up.  Her fear had caused him more pain than that he had to already endure.  Hearing him confess this pain stirred something deep inside her being.  It couldn't be contained any longer.

                Clenching her fist, she forced her emotions to bend to her will.

                "Ri- Sama!  Listen to me!"

                He was taken a back by the forceful tone in her normally timid voice.

                "You think that you've lost your soul, huh?  Well lemme tell you something, den.  If you had no soul, you wouldn't be able to say those things - like caring about a person who practically abandoned you after something that they _knew was totally out of your own control.  And sure, yeah,  I was scarred and I did avoid you out of that fear...in fact I'm still a bit scarred.  But that doesn't mean a damn thing!  Fuck your blood and your past!  What matters now is your future.  You sound so apathetic: giving up your will here and now."  She breathed heavily, raving her heart out to him; letting every emotion pass her lips.  "You're only damned as long as you think you're damned.  Even-even if your life may be limited by your blood, you shouldn't give in.  Because that's not what makes you.  Your family, your blood, and even your feud - that's not you.  That is __not your soul..."  She sniffled and tried to catch her breath._

                She looked out the window, placing her hand on the cold glass as she gazed at the rainy city below.  She listened to his quickened breathing, the only comfort she had as of now.

                ...then she heard the click...

                He had hung up.  

                She stood there, staring at the phone blankly, listening to the unwelcome dial tone.  She went back to the bed, sitting down, and laying her head in her hands to muffle her cries.  A sharp turn of irony - he had abandoned her for the sake of his own pain.

                ...

                There was a rushed knocking on the door.  She got up and went towards it.  Unlocking the bolts, she cracked it a bit to peer out.  Before she could, a single blue rose laid its stem upon the latched door chain.  She gasped, taken aback and surprised…she had noted the hand that held it bore a certain silver ring.      

                She quickly unlatched the chain and swung the door open.  He stood in front of her, drenched in the Tuesday evening rain.  The only clue he had to go on as to where she lived was a picture she had taken for him years ago.  Truthfully, he had been searching for her apartment for hours now in the thinnest hopes of finding her.  

                He looked into her eyes battered, forlorn, and lost.  "...vice...if that's not my soul, you show me what is."

                A small smile crept across her face.  She cupped her hand over the one that held the rose to her.  "...yes, Iori-sama..."  She embraced him tightly, not wanting to let go of him ever again.

                He wrapped his strong arms around her delicate frame.  He breathed a sigh of _actual tranquility as he ran his fingers through her hair, holding her close to himself.  Holding to him the one treasured possession that held his soul together - her's._

                "...i never want to hurt you again...i never wanna hear you cry for my sake ever again...things will be done right this time...i'll make sure of it..."

[ _kitty-kyte : well, there you have it.  my first ever KOF fanfic featuring two of my four favourite characters, Iori and Vice (the other two favs are Sie Kensou and Bao btw)...flame me all ya want - i say they'd look cute together.  and for those of you that still don't think the title makes sense, make sure ya look up mr yagami's last published profile.  k?  *^-^*]_


End file.
